Beer

[RossClement]

I tried brewing some ginger beer once with yeast and everything. When I got to the step about leaving it somewhere warm like an airing cupboard I realised I don't have such a place so I left it in a sink full of warm water. After a few hours the bottle looked like it was going to burst (I had used a 3l pop bottle) so I very gingerly (ha!) removed it and left it on the draining board for a while. It actually tasted pretty good but was a bit gassy. I'll see if I can find the recipe.

After a couple of hours? The recipe I used (sortof - no lemon juice in the house) says that it takes 24-48 hours to ferment.

Edit: After 11 hours there is still no sign of fermentation. Does chlorinated water kill the yeast? Surely not, or bread-making wouldn't work, particularly when you let the yeast grow in warm water before mixing it with the flour.

Our airing cupboard isn't very warm though. We have an extra insulating blanket over the hot water cylinder, and only have the hot water heater on at certain, crucial, times of the day.

Edit2: After about 31 hours or so, some fermentation is in evidence. I tried making the top receipe, but boiled the ginger dry. I went ahead and finished the receipe, but at the end it was too sweet and not gingery enough. I'll give it another go.

[Frosty]

Hey guys, i was wondering about Kopparberg also... this site ( which has been updated 2 months ago) seems to think it is!

http://www.veggiewines.co.uk/index.htm

cheers! x

Apparently, it is....


A while back there was some confusion as to the veganness of Koppaberg Cider. After several emails, and lack of responses from myself and other members from the forum, I have come across this on the interweb...

Hi!

According to our consultant product developer our cider is suitable for vegetarians/vegans.

Best Regards


Fredrik Bjornehall
Customer Relations
konsumentkontakt@kopparbergs.se (konsumentkontakt@kopparbergs.se)

[L'explorateur]

After a couple of hours? The recipe I used (sortof - no lemon juice in the house) says that it takes 24-48 hours to ferment.


I once tried to make ginger beer and it ended up very unpleasant. It was in a very old recipe box that I found at a thrift store. Can you send me in the direction of a tried-and-tested recipe for this heavenly substance?

[Cup'O'Tea]

Does anyone know whether Rickard's Red beer is vegan?

I never really thought to check, and it's actually very hard to find out! =/

[Corum]

Find out for yourself - why not ask them...?

http://www.molson.com/companyinformation/contact/index.php

You might get more out of them than I can, seeing as I'm a brit... but you never know :D

[bryzee86]

Can anyone gimme an inkling as to any stouts and ales that are vegan? I have a couple of recipes to try out, and I'm not a drinker so I wouldn't know!

[Risker]

Try a sainsburys bry, I think they mark a few vegan

[bryzee86]

Cheers mucker.

[Corum]

Does anyone know whether Rickard's Red beer is vegan?

I never really thought to check, and it's actually very hard to find out! =/

How's this then...? from Coors (who also brew in the UK after taking over Bass a few years ago).

"Thanks for your e-mail about the ingredients used in our products. We are always interested in hearing from our consumers.

Molson chooses the finest natural ingredients to brew its beers; no chemical additives or preservatives are used.

Our products are animal-product free. We use the finest barley, hops, Molson's own special yeast, water and finally corn syrup as a sweetener and as food for the yeast to grow.

If you have other questions or comments, John, please contact us again either by e-mail at www.molson.com or by calling the Consumer Information Center Hotline at: 1-800-665-7661. The center is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and the staff will welcome your comments.

Sincerely,

Sophia J. Guerrero
Consumer Information Representative
Consumer Relations"

Cool, eh? :D
consumers@coors.com

[Cumin]

Hmm.. but do they clarify it? They didn't mention that. Call me sceptical, but I'd want to hear a specific statement about clarification before I was sure. However, I had heard previously that Coors was OK (can't remember where)

[Frank]

Coors told me a while ago that their beer is not suitable due to fish finings.

It could have changed now - ie new brewery etc. I doubt it though.

I ask a brewer the initial question and if they do not mention the claryfying process I follow it up.

[mlg5454]

isn't most beer vegan? i though it was just basically grains.

i have heard that guiness is processed with animal fats or something like that...

[Cumin]

isn't most beer vegan? i though it was just basically grains.

If only that were true. I suggest you take a look at this page (http://www.vegansociety.com/html/food/drink/alcohol/beers.php) on the vegan society site.

[Frank]

i have heard that guiness is processed with animal fats or something like that...

Guiness use fish finings.

[MarkAnthony]

When my degree finished one of my first projects is going to be to set up a page with a comprehensive list of alcohol and which is and isn't vegan, and why.

Watch this space.

[Stu]

You'll probably be quite busy updating it, so be prepared for that! Things change quite a lot. But yeah, it would be very handy indeed.

[Corum]

Erm... sorry to be so pedantic here... but we were in Ikea t'other day and saw cans Kopparberg on sale. It's not actually cider - it's Perry, same as Babycham :) Didn't get any as it looked a bit too processed to me - compared with what we can get near us (proper home-made cider and perry)

[Mr Flibble]

a 30 second google search would indicate that they make both cider, perry and other items.

[MarkAnthony]

You'll probably be quite busy updating it, so be prepared for that! Things change quite a lot. But yeah, it would be very handy indeed.

Aye I figured as much, I'm hoping to make it editable by the public so that if someone learns something before me it will be updated sooner. Hopefully with enough regular viewers it'll do well.

[Stu]

Yeah, that would be brilliant.

[Risker]

I've seen people mention quite a few times that strongbow is vegan but I've never seen any supporting evidence (copy of email/letter from Bulmers etc). I've tried emailing them a few times in the past but their email page on their website has always been broken. However I tried again today and it seems to be working so I've sent off an email to ask.

However, I also checked the isitvegan database which has a big red http://realfood.redblackandgreen.net/isitvegan/images/redcross.gif next to strongbow with the comment "Sept 07: Bulmers may use isinglass finings if they think batch needs it."

http://realfood.redblackandgreen.net/isitvegan/isitvegan.php?department=2&category=102&manufacturer=0&item=strongbow&ord=Item&asc=asc

So until I get a response from Bulmers I'm thinking it's probably not vegan after all.

[alisont]

I was talking in a local pub about vegan beers and ciders recently - one of the owners the chef use to be veggie and knew some of the vegan beers like Becks vier and some that were not like stella and he thinks strongbow is not vegan but was not sure. I have never had an answer from Bulmers.

I avoid Strongbow as Im not sure, I know Magners is not vegan in fact dont know of many vegan ciders apart from Westons and Sainsburys made by Westons?

Hope we find out soon:)

[Cumin]

Risker, I spoke to Bulmers myself in Jan 2006 and they told me _all_ their ciders were vegan, but from the sound of it, that might have changed (aaarrgg!!).
I'll try and call them again myself to get an update.

[Cumin]

OK - good news and some confusion cleared I think.
First I called Bulmers and was passed to Scottish and Newcastle (the new owners) contact centre who told me Isinglass was used, but it sounded like a bit of standard marketing crap.

So then I chased down someone at the Cider plant in Hereford instead:
I spoke to the Cider Production Team Leader in Hereford (The proverbial Horses Mouth).
He told me that no fining agents of any kind are used in the production of any of the ciders made in Hereford (Bulmers, Scrumpy Jack, Woodpecker etc).
They use a Cross-flow Micro filtering technology and have done so (or similar) for 15 yrs. They have also just invested 3/4 million pounds in a new machine which means they will be using this method for the forseable future.
He assured me repeatedly that there are no animal products of any sort used in the manufacture.
His name was John Williams and he said he was happy for me to give his name to anyone that wanted to know. He also said he would tell Scot&New to stop spreading mis-information.

[Stu]

Cumin - you da man.